What Beer Are You Drinking Now? #4648

Looks delish!

 

Enjoying a very civilized and clean Flying Monkeys Juicy Ass IPA from Ontario.



Cheers!

 

I've had the whole week of but, strangely, this is the first chance I've had to really relax. Enjoying lunch at Good Word Brewing. This is a collab with Fidens out of NY. AL-BOH-NY Bohemian Pils 5.2%. Just had a chat with brewer Todd about it. He spent about a week in the Czech Republic recently touring breweries, including Budvar and Pilsner Urquell. They killed it with this one. Similar to PU without the diacetyl (yeah, I know but he intentionally kept it out). Great beer! They know how to pour them here, too. Cheers to Todd D.
@JackHorzempa He remembered talking with you in Philly.

 

Been a bit. Still nice.

 

Cheers!

 

Lake Trip, a pale ale from Phase Three. Served on cask!

 

Enjoy a Harpoon IPA, while I wait for lunch
The weekend begins
Cheers all

 

At The Alter a terrific Kölsch style 4.7%. Yay me!!!

 

A nice noon-time snack beer. Empyrean Long Route Peanut Butter Porter
This one is succulent at 6%
Cheers!

 

Did you discuss mashing and boiling with Todd in the production of this beer?

I took a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery and the tour guide discussed:

They implement a triple decoction when brewing PU with malt they produce in house (i.e., undermodified malt). Conducting a triple decoction is quite laborious but they do this to obtain the sensory qualities they desire in this beer. The other Czech breweries I toured conducted double decoction using malt they purchased.

The PU brewery uses direct fire heating for both boiling the decocted portion and the overall wort with a flame temperature of 600 degrees C. This results in carmelization (i.e., a flavor impact beyond Maillard Reaction Products from decoction). Most of the US breweries I have toured use steam heating which is much gentler for both decoction boiling and overall wort boiling.

Todd has an excellent memory! He talked to a lot of beer consumers that day so to remember one individual is a testament to his memory powers.

Na Zdravi

 

Maybe discuss this beer in the ongoing Kolsch thread?

A tasty Kolsch is indeed a beer of beauty!!

Cheers!

 

He did a triple decoction. I laughed because he said he doesn't like diacetyle at all and got burned out quick on PU. Budvar is the opposite. They hate diacetyle.

Regarding Todd, he's like that. A couple years ago he invited me and my adult son on a brewery tour. I can't tell you how much I appreciated it. He's a good dude.

 

@JackHorzempa I cannot leave without having a cask ale. This is my absolute favorite - Analog Life Dark Mild 3.6%.

 

That is a great beer.

 

Todd and I have similar palates/preferences. I discussed diacetyl in my article:

“My least favorite topic: diacetyl

During the fermentation process all yeast strains (both ale and lager) create a chemical compound called diacetyl. In most cases this diacetyl will be further processed by the yeast into other compounds later in the fermentation process. For most beer styles a perceptible level of diacetyl in the beer is considered a technical brewing flaw. An exception is for Bohemian Pilsner. The BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) Style Guidelines states: “Light to moderate diacetyl…are acceptable, but need not be present.” Well the words “light” vs. “moderate” can be quite subjective. There is also the aspect that perceptible diacetyl, which tastes like butter to my palate, may be OK for some folks and undesirable for others (e.g., me). During my recent (2019) two week visit to the Czech Republic (Prague, Pilsen) I drank many draft half-liters of Bohemian Pilsners but the only beer I sometimes had issues with was Pilsner Urquell and principally when at Tankovna Pubs which served Pilsner Urquell directly from tanks within the pub. When I visited the Pilsner Urquell brewery to take a tour I asked the tour guide about this topic. She recognized this situation but since she was not a brewer she had no answer to why there was variability here.

I much preferred the Bohemian Pilsners that had no perceptible levels of diacetyl.”

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Pilsen_Beer

And as you learned from reading your book “Modern Lager Beer” on pg. 108;

“The brewers of Pilsner Urquell use diacetyl as a means to determine when their beer is finished lagering. The beer is filtered and pasteurized around the five-week mark to ensure consistent diacetyl character is preserved.”

Some ‘good news’ for me is that I drank a lot of different brands of Bohemian Pilsners (Czech Pale Lagers) during my two weeks stay in the Czech Republic and the only beer I had issues with was the production Pilsner Urquell, principally at the tankovna pubs. My favorite Czech Pale Lagers (from the article):

“The qualities of Bohemian Pilsner can vary quite a bit within the Czech Republic. If you ever get a chance to visit I would encourage you to try the following beers: Bernard Světlé Ležák 12°, Kamenice Světlé Ležák 12°, and Únětický Pivo 12°. The terminology of 12° refers to the original gravity of the beer and Světlé Ležák translates to Pale Lager.”

One more brand I could have added to the above list is the cellar brewed Pilsner Urquell which is available at a few select locations. One being Na Parkanu Pub in the city of Pilsen:



Na Zdravi

 

Eureka at Tree House Woodstock

 

Finally, a non-cask ale from DFH - though I say that with a heavy heart. Luckily this new brewery in Berlin, MD shows some promise. This is the IPA they have on tap, a list that has more Drekker than Berlin Beer Co beers on.


For reference on the tap handles, the place has been open since late September, and according to things I’ve read, always has had tap handles for other breweries. Hopefully it’s one of those good thing there is so much demand situations. And they had a tap takeover after a collaboration with Drekker fairly recently.

 

Lite indeed. Cheers!

 

A very nice collaboration Spyglass and Proclamation Brewing. Citra and Rakau 8.3% yes please.